A sculpture by artist and local resident Brian Hanlon, symbolizing the resiliency of Ocean County residents after the devastation of superstorm Sandy, is to be erected on Route 37 in Toms River.

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A classically trained master sculptor, Brian Hanlon has been chipping people out of bronze and granite since 1986, when he was an undergraduate student at then-Monmouth College in West Long Branch. Hanlon, 53, has more than 300 public and private art commissions to his name. He also is the official sculptor for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. For more information, visit www.hanlon sculpture.com.

Toms River Mayor Thomas F. Kelaher (right) and sculptor Brian Hanlon unveil a sign Monday, which marks the spot where a statue will be built welcoming people to Ocean County. / Thomas P. Costello/Staff Photographer

Sculpter Brian Hanlon speaks in front of a sign Monday morning, May 12, 2014, that marks the spot along Route 37 eastbound, east of Main Street in Toms River, NJ, where a statue will be built welcoming people to Ocean County. The statue was made possible by the donations of Jay and Linda Grunin. TOMS RIVER, NJ MEMORIALRIDE0508C ASB 0513 Toms River Statue STAFF PHOTO BY THOMAS P. COSTELLO / ASBURY PARK PRESS

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TOMS RIVER — A monument dedicated to the resiliency of Ocean County residents in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy will be erected this summer near one of the Jersey Shore’s busiest Garden State Parkway exits.

Artist and sculptor Brian Hanlon of Toms River has been commissioned to design and create the monument, the centerpiece of which will be a bronze statue of a family enjoying a day at the boardwalk.

The statues — the dad will be about 8 feet tall — will be mounted to a granite base that has “risen” above a water sculpture, symbolizing the floods that devastated so much of the Shore during the Oct. 29, 2012, disaster.

The estimated cost of the “Welcome to Ocean County” monument is $500,000. The amount will be paid for by a private grant from longtime residents and local philanthropists Jay and Linda Grunin.

“When Mr. Grunin was explaining to me what he wanted, I had this image of a timeless kind of family walking onto the Seaside beach,” Hanlon explained, before the official groundbreaking ceremony Monday. “It started out as two kids and then they added a third, and he had a baseball and a hat.”

The monument will be built on land owned by the Toms River municipal government, said Ocean County Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari. A former mayor of Toms River, Vicari said the township had once acquired the land to stop a billboard company from purchasing it. The site is on the corner of Route 37 East and Main Street, between a traffic jughandle and an Exxon gas station, and eventually will include sidewalks to the sculpture from Main Street.

The monument will be surrounded by the flags of the United States, New Jersey, Ocean County and Toms River.

“The sincere, heartfelt gesture of Mr. Grunin wanting to do something for post-Sandy is awesome,” Hanlon said. “Millions of people will see this before they enter the beach.”

After the ceremony Monday, Jay Grunin said the monument will be maintained in perpetuity and lit at night.

“We wanted to give something back to a county that has been our home for the last 45 years,” Grunin said. “Most importantly, we wanted to forge a new image in people’s minds that truly represents what our community stands for: family, great recreational offerings and people that rise above adversity, regardless of the obstacle.”